The jury’s decision in the conviction of former radio host Craig Carton was a fitting conclusion to a very sad story [“Carton guilty in scheme,” News, Nov. 8].

I have gotten to know Craig over the past few years. One of his sons is a friend of my grandson at their school in Manhattan. On WFAN radio, Carton was bold and brash. But I saw a father who faithfully attended school basketball, baseball and soccer games. He sponsored and coached a flag football team for 8-year-olds under the lights in Battery Park.

Craig is a genius radio personality who let his demons get the best of him. He is a good man, an outstanding father, but has a gambling problem. Whenever he did anything, he was all in, whether hosting tailgate parties for fellow Jets fans or doubling down on a big bet. He lived on the edge. And now he has fallen off the ledge.

In the end, the big losers are the victims of his crimes, but especially his wife and family. I can only hope and pray that the judge will go easy on Craig at his sentencing in February, and at the same time demand that he gets the help he so desperately needs.

Fred Hart,Jericho

State protected itself from ugly truth

Regarding the state’s Justice Center for the Protection of New Yorkers with Special Needs, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo asserted in 2013, “We will work around the clock to safeguard the rights and protections of our most vulnerable citizens.”

Newsday’s expose “Hands to the neck” [News, Nov. 11], regarding a Justice Center study of nonfatal strangulations at state institutions, reveals that quite the opposite is the case.

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When Patricia Gunning, inspector general of the Justice Center, initiated a study about nonfatal strangulation and found it was grossly underreported, she was shut down by state officials. Gunning said, “Being outspoken about what you see is not a good quality to have if you want to stay in state government.”

It appears from the Newsday report that people of good will and competence such as Gunning are also victims of strangulation — in this case, by the State of New York.

It is a sad day when we learn that Cuomo’s Justice Center, created to protect people with special needs, has asphyxiated its own internal study and perpetrated a cover-up of what the study revealed to protect only itself.

Andrew Malekoff,Long Beach

Editor’s note: The writer is executive director of North Shore Child and Family Guidance Center, a nonprofit children’s mental health center in Roslyn Heights.

Northeast should set energy goal

Given the desperate need to curtail climate change, I am always cheered by good environmental news like “South Fork solar farm, to power more than 125 homes, nears completion” [News, Oct. 23]. The Town of East Hampton is a beacon of hope that other municipalities need to follow. There is so much that can be done locally to replace fossil fuels.

Driving through Massachusetts recently, I saw solar arrays on sides of highways. Our utilities and community solar projects can do the same. No trees need be cut, no farmland displaced and no views harmed.

Cities and towns can electrify buses and trucks and install charging stations for private vehicles. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo’s administration has launched rebates to incentivize installation of charging stations in apartment buildings and public garages.

We need Cuomo and other Northeast governors to commit to a regional plan to reduce carbon emissions from transportation by 50 percent by 2030. These are the kinds of things that will give me hope.

Joanne Moore,Long Beach

Editor’s note: The writer is a member of the Sierra Club environmental organization.

The 14th Amendment is misused

Before anyone criticizes President Donald Trump for his position on birthright citizenship, he or she should first examine the intent of the 14th Amendment [“Trump restricts asylum rights,” News, Nov. 10].

The amendment was adopted in 1868, just three years after the end of the Civil War, which was fought to end the scourge of slavery in the United States. The intent was rightfully to provide U.S. citizenship to former slaves and their children, thus rendering moot the Supreme Court’s tragic decision in the Dred Scott case.

I have to believe that, given the circumstances and the timing of the 14th Amendment, that legislators never imagined it would be applied either to individuals born in the United States while their parents were on vacation, or to those who came here illegally. Then there are those who arrive simply for the purpose of having a child eligible for U.S. citizenship, providing such parents with an argument for remaining so they will not be separated from their children.